Judge Denies Delay in Stewart Civil Case

A judge hearing civil lawsuits against Martha Stewart denied prosecutors’ attempts to keep her lawyers from interviewing 15 government witnesses, saying he was not going to “keep this civil case hanging in the air while you proceed with your criminal case.”

Prosecutors claimed that letting Stewart’s lawyers question the witnesses would interfere with their criminal case against Stewart, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 12.

Stewart, founder of home decorating and media group Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., is facing trial on charges of securities fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements to investigators looking into suspicious trades of ImClone Systems Inc. shares.